TALK - 7 MATERIA MEDICA - 1

Transcription

1 TALK - 7 MATERIA MEDICA - 1 Hello! And welcome back. Fine let s begin. So far I have spoken to you about the concepts about the overall idea of the sensation method and we have talked about the repertory. We have talked about the use of repertory & today I would like to talk to you about Materia Medica. Today we will learn how to study remedies, using the two different approaches together. On the one hand the symptom approach and on the other hand the sensation or the system approach. First we will go through the outline of how to study a remedy, and for this we will take three remedies, one from each kingdom, and study them as examples. How to study a remedy Source The first thing that we study about the remedy is the source. We first need some basic understanding about the origin or the source of the remedy, which kingdom it s coming from, which part of that kingdom etc. Materia Medica the PQRS symptoms with L, S, M Secondly, we need to study the Materia Medica of that remedy. Which means we need to study the Peculiar, queer, rare and strange symptoms of that remedy along with its Location, sensation and modality. We also need to study the characteristics. We need to study the general & the mental symptoms of that remedy and the unique symptoms of that remedy. Once we study this kind of Materia Medica then we need to study the remedy from the kingdom point of view. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 1

2 Kingdom We need to study its place in the kingdoms and then you will be able to see how the characteristic symptoms of that remedy can be understood by locating it in the map of the kingdoms. Miasm The next thing we need to study about the remedy is it s miasm. What is the pace of that remedy, what is the depth of that remedy. What is the acuteness or the chronicity of that remedy. This is something that we need to understand. Complementary and similar remedies We also need to study complementary and similar remedies. Which are the remedies around that remedy in terms of its symptoms, it s kingdom, it s sub kingdom, it s pathology. Repertorial rubrics Then we can study the reportorial rubrics of that remedy. We can study this either from a repertory or from a repertory extraction. So there are books that give you all the rubrics of a remedy in alphabetical order. This is a very useful way of studying a remedy. Cases from practice Finally we should study the cases from practice because these are the cases that gives the remedy a life. Together all these things which means the source, the Materia medica, the rubrics, the miasm, the kingdom & cases from practice together gives us a very well- grounded picture of the remedy. It is useful often to start with but very authentic book because that gives us in a nutshell what the remedy is all about. And one book that I like to recommend & I too choose for myself is Phatak s Materia Medica. Now let us begin the study of one remedy which is Silicea / silica. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 2

3 SILICEA Source Firstly, the source Silicea, or Silica, is Silicon dioxide, or sand. It is a compound of Oxygen as well as Silicon. This is very useful to remember that it has also oxygen in it. Materia medica: Then let us study some characteristic symptoms from Phatak s Materia Medica. The Materia Medica says: It produces defective nutrition especially in children. There is malnutrition and arrested development. Now just reading this symptom is so interesting because when you later on when you will study the kingdoms & when we study that Silica comes in Row 3 of the periodic table, we will see that Row 3 is especially concerned with nutrition, with nourishment and especially with children & especially arrested development, at that stage in child s life when he is dependent on the other for his nutrition or development. Then, Phatak s Materia Medica says, Suppurative processes which are stubborn, fistulas, and abscesses. Now when we look at this symptom, it gives us a little bit idea of its chronicity of Silica. That Silica is not only for acute situations but it is especially for chronic situations, something that are stubborn, something that are fixed, something that last for a long time. Things that are not fatal, things that are not going to finish you but you are going to live with it. For example a fistula is something that you live with, they are stuck to you & later on we will get an idea that belong to the sycotic miasm; whose pace is chronic, stubborn & fixed. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 3

4 Then Phatak s Materia Medica says, Silica is Keenly sensitive to cold and having a hatred for drafts of air. This is a very interesting symptom because this is one of the main modalities of Silica which is aggravation from draft. For example if you take the rubric Asthma aggravation from draft You will find probably only Silica, which is a very strange symptom because asthmatics are usually liking draft or fanning. Pains are violent and sticking but localized in ears, throat etc. So what is interesting about Silica as you can read from the book is that it affects very very local parts, that means there is a fistula that is very localized. There is a splinter like pain but it is very localized. So Silica is well known for very, very localized single affections. And this is useful to remember. Later on, when we study about the mind we will see that Silica is one of the main remedies for Monomania that means concerned about very very particular things. Then you see Phatak says, There is a tendency to the development of cicatrices and keloids. Here you see the tendency to overgrowth. The tendency to tumor formation which is also a quality of the Sycotic miasm, just like Thuja. In modalities Phatak lists aggravation from cold and draft, and better from warmth and magnetism. Very interesting! We have already seen aggravation from cold and draft & therefore the opposite is better by warmth. Silica is one of the few remedies that is much better from covering and much better from a hot bath. Now, what is magnetism? We will later on we will understand magnetism means hypnotism. And Silica is better from hypnotism. What does hypnotism really mean? Hypnotism means that somebody suggests you what is to be done and what is not to be done. Then means he takes over your decision making or your choice. And this is very, very interesting also because the 3 rd row; along with Talk 7 Materia Medica I 4

5 being concerned with nourishment and nutrition is also concerned with the development of individual choice & decision making. So we see that in Silica there is a kind of balance, a kind of imbalance, a kind of double sidedness. On one side silica is yielding. Phatak says in the mind, Mind: the person is yielding and yet also could be obstinate. So Silica lies exactly in the mid-point of the 3 rd row where he is not sure whether he is able to decide and therefore he has to listen to somebody else s decision or whether he is already able to make the decision and therefore he can be firm about his own choice. So he lies at that very delicate, balanced stage. So Phatak talks about Headstrong children. Children who says no this is the way I will do it and not any other way. Where they are fixed they are stubborn. There are fixed ideas says Phatak. There is loss of self-confidence and complaints from anticipation. So on one side, the child is stubborn. I have to do it this way and no other way, I will be like this and no other way, my idea is fixed about it. On the other hand, he can also be tremendously lacking in confidence and can yield to the will of other people. And at that stage comes in him an anxiety or a nervousness about himself. Am I what I portray to be or others are going to find out I am not that. And here comes is tremendous anticipation. And this ailments from anticipation is also a strongly Sycotic miasm symptom. The main symptoms of Sycotic miasm are avoidance, anticipation and acceptance. So what is the anticipation about in Silica. The anticipation is about his own image, it is about his own confidence, it is about what he portrays as an individual. And any situation where this image could be hurt, where this image could be belied, where this image could be shown to be not what it is, he gets very anxious and it is especially true when he faces people, when he presents a project, when he writes an exam or especially when he is on a stage. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 5

6 So what am I saying all this for? I am saying all this in order to show you that when we read the Materia Medica, when we read the characteristic symptoms, when we read the pathology, when we read the location, when we read the modalities of a remedy, you are also at the same time understanding it in the context of the kingdom, in the context of the sub kingdom, in the context of its place in the natural order of things and here is the beauty. And this is the way, if we understand Materia Medica like this then what will happen is we will start understanding the patients like this. That we will start understanding the patients not only in terms of their symptoms but also in terms of their sensation. And we will see that their symptoms and their sensations are actually speaking the same language. And that is the integration that I really want to talk to you about because that s what gives me the confidence in practice. It is not one or the other, it is both talking the same thing and that is the way we have to study the Materia Medica, that is the way we have to study our patients. This raw data from the Materia Medica, this concised Materia Medica, at first in Phatak s seems so disjointed, just an accumulation of seemingly unconnected symptoms. But when you understand them more in context, it forms a beautiful harmony. Now one of the things I like to study about remedies is also from clinical experience, that there are many confirmatory symptoms of Silicea. Confirmatory symptoms: There are many confirmatory symptoms of Silicea; For example: - Ribbed and corrugated nails. If you looked at the repertory, Extremities, corrugated nails you will find Silica is the top remedy. What is corrugated? Corrugated means the nail is like an asbestos sheet. You know it is going up and down in ridges. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 6

7 Another symptom in the nail of Silica is that they develop - White spots on nails. Now very few remedies have this and you can use this as confirmation. Very often Silica people have - Cold sweat on the palm and the soles. Especially when they are nervous. Often perspiration is offensive especially of the feet. True to their Sycotic miasm feature, they often develop - Warts on the external throat What is the external throat? The front of the neck, this we call the external throat. And the back of the neck is called the cervical region. So in Homoeopathy we do not have the neck, we either have external throat or we have the cervical region. And Silica has warts in both these areas. - Aggravation from draft of air As I told you asthma worse from draft of air, the only remedy is Silicea. Now we can see another thing in Silicea & that is Monomania. Monomania in terms of body and mind: - As I observed earlier Silicea is mostly has single pathology, e.g. a Silicea patient will come to you with only fistula or with only keloid, or with only a wart. - It is almost like it s pathology is restricted to a single part or organ, and it s chronic and it can be there for years and years. One of the symptom for example is sinusitis. He can come to you for a chronic pain of sinus, a chronic inflammation of sinusitis, that s going on for years. - This is a kind of concentration on one spot. - In the mind we could call it monomania. Where one thinks of only one thing constantly to the exclusion or avoidance of everything else. Dreams: One dream I observed in some Silicea patients is a dream of being pursued by wild animals. This it shares with Sulphur in the same row. Why exactly this dream, I have no clue. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 7

8 Kingdom Now if we study Silicea from the kingdom point of view, we see that it lies in the Third Row, and it lies in the middle of the 3 rd row. And therefore, it shares with other remedies of the 3 rd row all the issues of that row. What are the issues of that row? You have the issues of : Identity, care and nourishment. It is a stage of the development in a child where he feels separate from the parent. He doesn t feel the need to be in the womb any more now. But he is dependent on the parent for his identity, for his choice, for care and nourishment from outside. And this is the stage where the ego is developing. We have already seen the issues of nourishment in Silica, malnutrition. So you can find in many Silica patients issues with nutrition. They are emaciated often inspite they are eating well. You see a tremendous lack of self-confidence, trust in their ownselves. Their ego is not yet fully developed. So the question is How do I look to other people? What are people saying about me? Because their opinion of themselves is coming from other people. and this leads to self-consciousness and often embarrassment. In the 3 rd row also there is an issue with Growth and development. So you find that in Silicea, a dwarfishness. A lack of development and it is one of the main remedies for it. Implicit trust. So you find in Silicea also like in other remedies of the 3 rd row the lack of trust in other people. Like we saw the desire for magnetism, to implicit trust in somebody else. A kind of naivety is also there. They are not very complicated. And also in the 3 rd row are the issues of the need for familiarity and comfort and the fear of the unknown. The feeling I need direction or the feeling I am lost. Also in the 3 rd row is the issue of developing the abilty to take decisions. And to develop a sense of Talk 7 Materia Medica I 8

9 right and wrong. So in Silicea which comes after Natrum, Magnesium and Alumina this sense of ego is more developed, more firm. In fact, it has now become quite rigid. I often compare this to glass. Glass, Alumina is clay, Silica is glass. Alumina still has the ability to be moulded before it hardens. But glass is already hard, tough, hard and brittle. It can only take that one shape. So it has taken its shape and that s how it s going to be for the rest of his life. This is the feeling with Silica. Feeling forsaken. Being comfortable with familiarity, and fearing the unknown. Feeling lost, needing direction. Fear of natural phenomena Wanting to be different. Developing the ability to take decisions, developing a sense of right and wrong. Doing things for oneself, developing the ability to express oneself. Homesickness. Awkwardness. So being in the middle of the Third Row, the issue of image, confidence and appearance, Silicea has the following features: Silicea is extremely image conscious, and is always worried about whether he will live up to the expectations of others or of himself or of what he wants to be or what he should be. When he steps onto the stage, he is always worried if this image will hold or it will not hold. Dressing and mannerism: Often I have seen in the clinic, Silica patient can come in very conservatively or formally dressed. Often he is reserved and speaks hesitantly and it will be often difficult to get a prolonged history from him or to enter into any of the conversational mode. I often find that the case form questionnaires are very well filled out like the projects that they do. Common clinical confirmation of Silica is, I ask them suppose you do a project or do submit some paper or something and if there is one little mistake over there, will you just scratch it out and then put something on it or will you have to redo it the entire page. Often Silica will have to say we have to redo the entire page. So then the Talk 7 Materia Medica I 9

10 questionnaires are well filled out, good hand writing, precise like their answers. And often they have rehearsed what they have to tell you. So what comes out is whatever is rehearsed and then there is a stop. There is no conversation here. Issue of identity and choice. You have the issue of identity and choice. So you have anticipatory anxiety and the lack of self- confidence and then the peculiar combination of yielding and stubborn. Yielding means I have no choice and stubborn means I have my own choice and I am very firm about it. So sometimes it can happen that from the outside they may appear yielding but inside they are quite stubborn. They say in English, convinced against his will, but of the same option still. Homesickness: Another issue of the 3 rd row which is also prominent in Silica is Homesickness. Silicea is the only remedy as far as I know has dreams of youth times which means the dreams of the times when he was in his youth when he was in his childhood. Of his old friends, of his old home, of familiarity and of comfort because out of his comfort zone he feels always apprehensive, anxious, lack of self-confidence and nervous. Miasm As far as miasm is concerned, we find there is a constant anticipation. The word constant is very important with the, that is one of the main themes with Sycotic miasm. Most of the pathologies like suppurations, fistulas. Keloids, warts, overgrowths are fixed and they are indicative of the sycotic miasm. Similarly hypersensitive allergic reactions. Silicea is well-known for the allergic response to dust for example in the form of silicosis. Now if you study the rubric Vaccination, ailments from, you have Silica very very prominently, also Thuja. The way I understand this rubric is that vaccination is basically the introduction of a foreign protein into the system and people who have ailments from vaccination are people who are hypersensitive and hyper- reactive to a foreign protein. The same idea is the idea of allergies. So people who have allergies and hyper immune system responses to different situations for example dust or smoke or whatever or hyper immune system diseases like eczema etc. asthma. I consider in these people the rubric Ailments from vaccination. Even though they do not give Talk 7 Materia Medica I 10

11 they may not give us a history of vaccination or reacting badly to it. I assume that these remedies are the remedies for hyper immune system response and they are usually sycotic. Silica is one of the remedies for asthma and eczema and other allergic diseases. Well we need to compare Silica with other remedies. Comparison with other remedies First of all we need to compare with the remedies of the same row. For example we compare between Natrum. Magnesium, Aluminium, Silica, Phosphorus and Sulphur. And we need to know each of these remedies represents different stage in the development of identity, of independence, of choice, and of ego. Alumina is still confused about its identity. It s like clay it doesn t know what he is going to become. So he is questioning him, do I do what I want to do or do I have to do what other tells me to do. And there is a conflict in his being, it is a terrible conflict. Its syphilitic, it could be destroy it. Silica is the next stage where he says this is me that s it. I am going to become a doctor, an engineer or whatever. I am going to be like this I am going to be whatever..it s fixed. This is me and I am not going to change it. The question now is am I good enough to be that what I want or people going to find out I am not good enough. That s the fear. But what I want to be is for sure. And the next is Phosphorus who says I want to be different from what you want me to be. So Silica may say I want to be this, what you want me to be. May be you know I want to be to your expectations. But it s my choice that I have decided to be what you want me to be. But Phosphorus is the next. Just I will be purposely different than what you want me to be. So it s the further stage of ego development. And of course, Sulphur takes the cake because it says I am better than everyone. I know; you don t. I know better. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 11

12 So you have to compare Silica with these other remedies of the 3 rd row. Then you have to compare Silica with the compounds of Silica like, Calc silicata, like Alumina silicata and here you will see that for eg: Calcarea silicate will have issues of Calcarea like security, of money, of the job. He feels insecure that he doesn t have money I need the job. And then comes the Silica part of the picture which says am I good enough to be in this job. And then there is anxiety that am I or am I not good enough. If I am not good enough I will lose the job, I will lose the money. Then how will I support myself. So Calcarea silicate very beautifully combines the qualities of Calcarea and Silica. Which means I have to be like this in order to have my security. And am I good enough. Alumina Silicata a little bit more complicated. And about that I have to talk to you with a case and that we will do in the future talk. Because we can bring out beautifully the quality of Alumina Silicata. And is one of the most beautiful remedies and when indicated it really works fantastically. I would like to show you some cases of it later on. But one remedy that often comes in comparision with Silica is Argentum nitricum. Difference between Silicea and Argentum nitricum: Because both have stage-fright, both are nervous and both are mineral remedies. So you will see mineral qualities in both and you will see stage fright in both. What is the difference between the two? The difference is that Argentum comes from the 5 th row of the periodic table. Which is creativity. - Silicea is not a creative person; he just wants to perform according to expectations. He is not original, he is like a child who has to narrate poetry in a competition. He just has to narrate it, he doesn t have to create it. He has to narrate it the way it has to be narrated. The way it has been taught to him. The only question is will he be able to do it. - Whereas Argentum from the 5 th row is a creative person. He is like a speaker, singer, an orator, a creator and he has to make the presentation or original Talk 7 Materia Medica I 12

13 composition or improvisation and he is very anxious to maintain his position as a creator, as a presenter, as a composer. And this is a very difficult job. - It involves the reaching out beyond himself. Excelling himself. Each time he has to do better. Imagine a life of a classical singer. Imagine the life of a scientist. Imagine the life of an actor, he is going to be judged by the standard he has set. Not that somebody has set for him. And each time he has to reach beyond himself, to excel in order to maintain his reputation, his position. But Argentum is just beyond the 10 th stage, the 10 th column. The 10 th column is success and after that you have to maintain that success. It s just above Aurum metallicum. So this need to excel himself, to have total control on what he is doing, brings Argentum nitricum to the cancer miasm. Whereas Silica is Sycotic miasm. Silica is 3 rd row concerned with his image, Argentum is 5 th row concerned with his originality and creativity. And this is a huge difference between the two remedies. - What else we have to compare Silica with? - We have to compare Silica with other sycotic remedies. - Comparison with other sycotic remedies - Silicea is very close to Thuja and to Pulsatilla. Pulsatilla is also yielding disposition and sycotic. However, you cannot differentiate it merely from these symptoms. You will know the difference when you will go to the inner core of the experience in the case. In that inner core of experience of this case, Thuja will express fragility of the Conifer family and Pulsatilla will express the excessive sensitivity of the Ranunculaceae family. Whereas in Silicea the issue will be of identity and the fixation of identity. - Let me explain a little bit more. The question for Pulsatilla is not the question of choice, she doesn t have the problem to decide what he wants what he doesn t want. It is not the issue at all. He knows what he wants. He is clear what he wants and what he doesn t want. The question for Pulsatilla is that he will not express this desire because he believes that if he or she expresses this choice, this desire, somebody might get angry on him. Somebody might be rude to him or her and she wants to create the situation for herself that she avoids rudeness. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 13

14 That she avoids confrontation, that she avoids criticism, that she avoids insult, that she avoids any harshness or hurt. And therefore in order to avoid this harshness or hurt or insult or reprimand or criticism therefore she is always mild, yielding, pleasing other people. So that nobody will speak harshly to her and she will cry very easily. So you don t have to speak to her harshly. So the entire action of Pulsatilla is the avoidance of hurt, the avoidance of harshness, rudeness which is exactly the sycotic miasm in the Ranunculaceae family. Whereas the yielding disposition of Silica is actually a symbol of not knowing what he should be or what he wants. He is not that clear but not formed with his choice. His ego is not yet clearly formed and what he avoids is embarrassment and what he avoids is people having a bad opinion of him. What he avoids is people finding out that he is not good enough. So these are completely different even enough they seem similar in some symptoms. What is interesting of course between Pulsatilla and Silica is they are supposed to be complements of each other, following each other well. Silica they say is the chronic of Pulsatilla or follows well. That s very interesting; they are very close. Clinical observations Now the other thing we need to know from Silica is the experience from clinical cases. What are the clinical observations with Silica? One thing that I found about them is they are extremely conscientious about trifles. Conscientious means very particular. They don t want to make the slightest mistake or the slightest error. I told you they would change the entire page if there is slightest imperfection. Some important rubrics: What are some important rubrics of Silica? One rubric that is interesting is: - Delusion: body divided, left half does not belong to her. The way I understood is that Silicea seems to have two sides to her. One that she shows and one that is hidden. To keep something about you hidden is a feature of the Talk 7 Materia Medica I 14

15 sycotic miasm and the one that you show to people is the theme of the Appearance of the Third Row. - Another rubric of Silica Fear; of undertaking a new enterprise - Other rubric is Remorse about trifles. He feels he makes the slightest mistakes and he feels so upset about it. How could I do that, how could I make that mistake. The famous rubrics of Silicea are of course - Timidity, appearing in public or Fear, appearing in public, of - Delusion, that everything will fail. - Fear, failure, of. - Fear, falling off. - Egotism. - Fear of examinations. - One clinical rubric also, Head, baldness of young people. Which it shares with the remedy Baryta carbonicum. So I find sometimes that Silica people at the age of are already bald. Some important points about Silicea - One clinical situation where I find Silica is always coming from is the situation where they feel they have to fulfill a specific image as a necessary condition of they being accepted. For example, a child is told that he will be accepted and loved if he achieves in a specific way. he comes first in class or he becomes a doctor etc etc and that makes them very nervous. And this is more what is perceived than that what is actual. So what they are doing is actually fulfilling an image made for them by somebody else. And to maintain this image she yields, she yields to that image but that image itself becomes fixed and obstinate. So here it is two things together. She is yielding to somebody s image but that image is obstinate or fixed. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 15

16 My imagination of Silicea: When I imagine Silica, just out of my own imagination, I imagine is somebody like a queen or the prince, who is not powerful, just is a titular head. Just the head for namesake. So there is no power but there is a monarchy here. So he has to keep up the family image. He doesn t have to do anything creative or original or think and take any responsibility. But his job is simply is to live to a particular image and everybody expects him to live to that particular image. And anything that spoils that image is not good for him. People are always observing him, that s how he feels. Dr William Gutman from America he writes very beautifully about Silica. He says, - Silicea is derived from the earth s crust which consists of sand or grit and the patient shows lack of grit. - The earth s crust gets easily heated by the sun and easily chilled. And so is the Silicea patient; easily sensitive to cold and heat and is worse from cold and heat. - The earth s crust was originally soft, consisting of lava, and then it became harder and harder. So in the patient the soft parts become hard, and the hard part becomes soft. Like formation of abscesses in the bones, caries of teeth etc. Correlation of facts (symptoms) with kingdom and miasm understandings So in this way, when you study Silica from the source, from the Materia medica, from the rubrics, from the kingdom, from the miasm, from the clinical cases, from the comparision of similar remedies then you get a very very grounded picture of that remedy. And this is the way you need to study a remedy, and this is the way you also we need to study the patients. Now we will pass on to another remedy also a very common one from the Plant kingdom. We will study Pulsatilla. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 16

17 PULSATILLA Information about the source from William Gutman: Pulsatilla first of all the source. We know that it s from the Ranunculeceae family. And now if we study the information on the source about Pulsatilla we find some very interesting information. This is also from William Gutman. William Gutman studied remedies from the source and he has compared the information from the source with the symptomatology of the remedy in a very beautiful, often poetic way. He wrote Pulsatilla is often found in groups, as if seeking company, never rarely or as a single specimen. The plant grows on dry, sandy soil, having small need for water. Which kind of brings to the fore the thirstlessness of Pulsatilla which we know as one of its characteristics. It appears early, thriving in the cool air of first spring, but has still to be protected against chill by fine soft hair, covering stems and leaves. The flower, softly bents, hanging downwards, yields to the slightest breath of air, moving about, constantly changing its position, as the wind changes its direction. The same characteristic "changefulness" exists in the colors, all colors are represented, from near white to yellow, lilac, blue, red, violet and purple to a nearly black color. So some hints about Pulsatilla, about its changeability, about its yielding disposition, about its thirstlessness are all found in the plant itself. Pulsatilla from Materia Medica Constitutional makeup: - Usually helps females of mild, gentle and yielding disposition as given in Phatak. - People who cry readily. - It is generally thirst less. - Generally chilly but aggravated in a closed room and better in the open air. - Discharges are yellowish green. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 17

18 Interestingly, the greenish yellowish discharges are generally Sycotic miasm. As we see in Silica, as we see in Natrum sulphuricum. Mental makeup: Pulsatilla we know is - Mild, timid. - Emotional and tearful. - Easily offended. - Likes to be fussed over or caressed. - It is also very irritable and touchy. - Feels slighted ( slighted means insulted ) or fears slight. - Feels herself alone in the world. - Fixed ideas that certain foods are not good for the human race. These fixed ideas are also very typical of Sycotic miasm. We see that in Silica, we see that in Thuja, we see that in Pulsatilla. - Delusion; forsaken, deserted. Fear, forsaken, of being. - Delusion, neglected she is. Fear, neglected, of being. - He always anticipates that people will neglect him or forsake him. - Dreams, frightened by a black dog. Important generals: some important general symptoms - Desires what disagrees. So often a Pulsatilla will say I can t take sour food, I can t take ice cream, I can t take spicy food, I can t take oily food. And when you ask him what things do you like he says exactly the same thing. I like ice cream, I like sour food, I like spicy food, I like oily food. So the desires are exactly the opposite. It is very interesting that he has to avoid what he likes. - Thirstless. Important female particulars: - Menses onset delayed. - Menses is usually late and scanty, with unwashable stains (indelible). Now all these symptoms so far are seemingly unconnected. We see mind symptoms, bodily symptoms, there are general symptoms, there are particular symptoms, hormonal symptoms. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 18

19 A study of Pulsatilla through the kingdom approach: Now we need to study Pulsatilla through the kingdom approach. First of all, we see that Pulsatilla is a member of the plant remedy of Family Ranunculaceae. The main themes of Family Ranunculaceae: - Extremely sensitivity to being hurt - insulted, slighted, offended, mortified, reprimanded. It is as if the nerves are exposed, raw and touchy. - There is a mixture of emotions; there is grief along with anger and guilt, one on top of another. Try to understand the Ranunculaceae family The main characteristic of the Ranunculaceae family is that the person does not feel one thing at a time. If he feel angry, he is also feeling guilty and also feeling sad; all at the same time, which happen with one another. So if somebody hurt him, he feels sad, he feels angry, and he also feels guilty for having done something to be brought on that kind of an offence. So there is fear, hurt and irritability. This is one of the main qualities in Ranunculaceae, you must see that in the patient. So when pulsatilla person is angry he has to feel sadness and guilty and anger, all at the same time. That is it s characteristic. - Timidity. - There is also a tendency to suppress or hold back. So similarly in Pulsatilla you see all emotions. There are many fears, such as fear of being alone, and fear to be in the dark. There is irritability and anger. And there is weeping and sadness. All the emotions mixed together makes Pulsatilla extremely touchy and sensitive. What is the miasm of Pulsatilla: Pulsatilla has a tendency to fixed ideas. It has got Fears of slights : fear to be insulted. Apprehended, anticipating. Somebody will hurt him, somebody will insult him and doing everything in his power to avoid him constantly. This apprehension and this anticipation & this avoidance make it a pre-eminently a Sycotic miasm remedy. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 19

20 Most of the pathology of pulsatilla as we know it is of non- destructive nature. The yellowish greenish discharges, the problem in her menses, so many problems are there in Pulsatilla. But usually like Silica they are not of destructive nature. Pulsatilla adopts a type of behavior which is mild and yielding. Whatever you say she will listen and if you are little bit harsh she can cry at the drop of a hat. So these are not the kind of people you will want to offend, you will be very careful and cautious about this, and they will also try to see that they give you no reason to offend them. Now we need to Correlate of characteristic symptoms with the Kingdom and Miasm understandings: So here we see that Pulsatilla is an emotional, tearful person, craves for fuss and consolation, weeps easily, is irritable, touchy, fears slight & has fixed ideas. These are all in keeping with the understanding of Pulsatilla as a member of Family Ranunculaceae family, in the sycotic miasm. What are the Confirmatory symptoms of Pulsatilla: When I have a feeling that this patient is Pulsatilla from all that we had said before.. from the symptom, from the rubrics, from the characteristics, from the sensations, from the miasm. Then I can ask some symptoms which are confirmatory. Trembling from anger, changes in body from anger. One of them is what happens to the person when he is angry. I asked the patient tell me when you are angry what happens to you. Often Pulsatilla patient will have trembling from anger and changes in the body from anger. This is not recorded in the repertories but it is something that I have confirmed and it is also an important feature of the Ranunculaceae family. In rare cases you will see that Pulsatilla wants to throw or strike in anger, but they will never ever do it. However, there is intense anger that comes. Pulsatilla is a Talk 7 Materia Medica I 20

21 very angry remedy, but this anger is often never seen. It is always completely hidden and avoided. In fact, if you ask them whether they will get angry?, they will say never ever. But if you ask them, Do you not get angry or feel angry? They will say, We feel intensely angry, but don t show it. Then you ask them, What do you feel at the height of anger? Then they will talk to you about the trembling and other bodily symptoms. Another confirmatory symptom of Pulsatilla is: Sensitivity and weeping Weeping from joy Weeping when narrating her complaints. Weeping at joy and sorrow ( RUBRIC : weeping, joyful or sad things,at) Weeping when narrating her complaints. means while narrating her complaint she automatically starts crying. This is the symptom that pulsatilla shares with other remedies like Medorrhinum, Sepia and Kali carb, which are from completely different kingdoms. But it is for sure that the easy weeping tendency is found in every single case of Pulsatilla Element of dependence: Another symptom of pulsatilla is There is a strong element of dependence in Pulsatilla with a fear of being alone, the fear to be left alone, fear to be neglected and forsaken and the dependence on other person which makes the Pulsatilla person yielding, mild and having to pander or please other people. This feeling of dependence is an emotional dependence. Unlike a dependence for security or a dependence for choice as you find in the Mineral remedies. It s a need for sympathy, it s a need for fuss, it s a need for consolation which makes the Pulsatilla person feel much better. Thirstlessness. Another characteristic is thirstlessness. There are some interesting things about Pulsatilla in thirstlessness. If you ask the patient tell me are you thirsty?, he may say yes. Then you would have to counter question and ask the question, what are you thirsty for? Some Pulsatilla people will say we are thirsty only for cold drinks. And when you ask what about Talk 7 Materia Medica I 21

22 normal water, he will say he is averse to normal water. So it s not thirst but actually there is a desire for cold drinks which is a strong symptom of Pulsatilla. Another thing about thirst is when you ask the patient thirst? He says yes I am very thirsty. So describe how much water do you take, I take 8-9 glasses per day or half a litre, one litre per day. Then you ask why do you take this water? Often the Pulsatilla person would say because it is good for me, I am told to take water. I made it a habit. So he takes water out of his fixed belief, a fixed idea that so much water is necessary to take. If we say if left to yourself how much water would you take..he may tell, well no, I personally never get the urge to take water. So the thirstlessness of Pulsatilla is also often hidden and one has to cross question to get it. Craving for open air. Pulsatilla is better by movement, and especially by moving about in the open air. Almost all of the symptoms are better in the open air. If this symptom is not present you must doubt whether the patient really needs Pulsatilla. So one of the strongest confirmations of Pulsatilla is I would like open air and I cannot stand closed places. Sometimes I ask the patient, do you like I windows open or shut or does it make a difference to you. Sometimes a Pulsatilla patient can say I like the window shut. And if you ask him why, he would say because I can t take the noise. So they are sensitive to noise that comes through the window but you will see they will find some way in which they can get fresh air. Sleep: One of the symptoms that Hahnemann mentions as a confirmation of Pulsatilla is that they take a long time to fall asleep. He mentions this in the introduction as one of the most characteristic symptoms of Pulsatilla. It is very interesting to ask the patient.how long do you take to fall asleep. And Pulsatilla takes a long time. Another characteristic in Pulsatilla sleep is the position during sleep. They sometimes sleep on the stomach, they sometimes sleep on the side, sometimes on the back, but very often the hands either lie above the head or below the head. Or they can sleep on one side with the hand below the head. Sometimes Talk 7 Materia Medica I 22

23 the limbs are drawn up during sleep. Often they will complain that they feel numbness on the side they lain on. These are often very very confirmatory symptoms of Pulsatilla. I often confirm them in most cases. A few more significant aspects of Pulsatilla: Now let me talk to you about a few more significant parts of Pulsatilla. Conscientiousness: Pulsatilla is very conscientious. So you have the rubric: Restlessness; as if he has not done his duty. You find here that it is almost like Aurum Metallicum. But the difference is that Pulsatilla does not have the sense of responsibility for other people like Aurum has. The sensitivity to duty in Pulsatilla is an expression of If I don t do my duty, I will get shouted at and that I can t bear that, so I better do what I have to do. So the rubric actually is: Servile, obsequious or submissive. They are also very sensitive to moral impressions, like what is right and what is wrong - morally and what is morally correct & what is morally incorrect. This is very similar to Staphysagria and they are also sensitive to whether other people follow morally correct behavior. Persistent thoughts: Another symptom of Pulsatilla is Persistent thoughts. When they try to sleep, many thoughts come and crowd in their mind, not allowing them to sleep. We have already seen in confirmation of Pulsatilla. They take a long time to sleep. One of the reason is the persistence of thoughts. If they listen to some music, in the day time then that music plays over and over again in their heads, preventing sleep. So we have the rubric: Thoughts, persistent, music about at night. I have seen this symptom in patients, it is not common, it is rare. But it does exist. Now we need to compare Pulsatilla with other remedies. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 23

24 Comparison with other remedies First of all other remedies in the Ranunculaceae family. The most important being Staphysagria. Staphysagria: Staphysagria in Phatak is mentioned as morbidly sensitive. Pulsatilla is described as very touchy and irritable. It is also extremely sensitive. The difference of course is in the miasm. In Staphysagria the anger is so strong that he finds it difficult to control. This intense anger is suppressed and a lot of energy is used in controlling it. But in Pulsatilla the effort is not to control the anger but to avoid the anger, to avoid the rudeness, so he becomes mild and yielding. So the picture of Pulsatilla in the clinic is often very different from Staphysagria. The Staphysagria comes across as a very touchy, egoistical person who you have to be very careful not to hurt because he can flare up in intense anger sometimes. But Pulsatilla you will see as a yielding, mild person to avoid situations that causes anger in other people. One of the complementary remedies of Pulsatilla, we have already spoken about Silica. The other one is Kali Sulphuricum. Most Materia Medica s will mention Pulsatilla and Kali Sulph as very close or complementary to each other. This is very very interesting in terms of the kingdoms. Kali sulphuricum: Because Kali sulph. has the feeling: I am dependent, I need people I can t be alone (kali) and Sulph is the feeling that I am not considered worthy, I am humiliated, I am insulted. So Kali sulph has the feeling I am humiliated, insulted by the people on whom I am dependent. It is also a sycotic remedy and has thick greenish yellow discharges. Like Pulsatilla, Kali Sulph is also better in open air and worse in a cold place. Therefore they are pretty close. We have also seen that Pulsatilla can show dependence and fear to be alone and the feeling to be insulted and humiliated. The only thing that will help to differentiate between the two remedies is the kingdom. Pulsatilla - plant remedy often a very sensitive person and also artistic. It is inclined towards sensitive things like art, flowers and music, and is very touchy, very sensitive emotionally, easily weeping. If you say the slightest thing, it will Talk 7 Materia Medica I 24

25 hurt and weep. And thirst-less. This touchiness and this extreme emotional sensitivity, this easy weeping, this tendency to sensitiveness, like art, flowers and music and the thirstlessness is often not found in Kali sulph. This is the main difference. Kali sulph is not so weepy and excitable. It is more stable emotionally. In conclusion about Pulsatilla: So to conclude about Pulsatilla you see all the features of the miasm the sycotic miasm, the family Ranunculaceae family and the facts of the remedy, all the symptoms we see and read mentally and physically. You see all of them are interacting together in a beautiful way. This is the set of symptoms that are repeatedly observed and confirmed in Pulsatilla cases. So the symptom that I mentioned as confirmatory you will find in most cases of Pulsatilla. And when you know a remedy through the different ways, first through the source, then through the symptoms, then through the rubrics, then through the characteristics, then through the kingdom, the family, then through the miasm, then through the comparison, then through the clinical cases. And then when you see all of them speaking a similar language then you can be sure, then you can be absolutely sure both in Materia Medica and in practice with the patients. This is the kind of integration of information that I want to talk to you about through these talks. Because isolated information, just about the sensation or just about the rubric, is half information, is just one side of the story. It is not complete, it is risky. But when integrated, when seen as a whole, when the patient speaks - you hear the miasm, you hear the kingdom, you hear the rubrics, you hear the Materia Medica, the source all at the same time and speaking the same language. Then you can be sure. That works. We will take the last remedy for today, an animal remedy; also common, Lachesis. I purposely choose remedies that all of you know. Common remedies. Because you have the information from the Materia Medica. You have the information from the rubrics. I am sure you have had clinical cases. And I know you know things about Lachesis or Pulsatilla or Silica from the kingdoms. But maybe this talk will help you to see all this information together. And to show how not only to study a Remedy but how to study a patient. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 25

26 LACHESIS Some information about the source Lachesis is commonly called the Bushmaster, or Surucucu snake. It s zoological name is Lachesis muta. And you know that it was famously proved first by none less than Constantine Hering. Hering wrote that like other snake poisons, the poison of the Bushmaster decomposes the blood and affects the heart and circulation. Lachesis in Materia Medica What are the characteristics in Lachesis that we know from the Materia Medica? This is the first thing we should know, our Materia Medica, the characteristics and the keynotes are really beautiful. They are absolutely reliable. They have been used for two centuries. And if you can get these characteristics from the patients, you can prescribe with absolute confidence in the remedies that are well proved and when to these characteristics we add, the systems, the sensation, the kingdoms, the miasms, it really completes it. Of course, the question here comes, what about the remedies that are not proved. The question comes what about the patients who give characteristic symptoms, but we don t know much about the family or the kingdom of that remedy which is indicated through those characteristics. That is the reason we need to have the whole range of Repertoire from the systems to the symptoms. But in a majority of cases, this information comes together and then your practice is really solidly placed. We know Lachesis It is left sided. It is good for Hemorrhages. It has Flushes of heat. It has Constriction around the throat. That it is useful for Malignant or septic states. Talk 7 Materia Medica I 26

27 That it has been used in Plague, in diphtheria, in cancer, in gangrene, in carbuncles. So, look at the pathology, the seriousness, the destruction. The destructive nature of the pathology, malignant and septic states, cancer and gangrene, carbuncles. Giving us a clear indication of its miasm. That Lachesis is destructive, it decomposes the blood, it produces destruction. So like many other poisonous snakes, Lachesis comes in the Syphilitic miasm. This helps us to understand it much better. The Important modalities of Lachesis are: - Aggravation after sleep. - Better by air. - Worse from sun. - Intolerance of clothing especially around the neck, where they feel a pressure as if choked or strangulated. Mind and Behaviour: It is written : - She perceives herself as being pursued, hated and despised. See how the miasm reflects in the mind. There is no hope here, you are pursued, despised, there is no hope. Its hopeless, despair. - There are persistent erotic ideas. Giving you a strong animal theme here.. - Great loquacity, insane jealousy and suspicion, intense competitiveness. - Feel herself Full of poison - Crawls on the floor. Isn t it an interesting, how the provings reflects the source itself, the poison and the crawling. - Clairvoyant; predicts the future correctly. This clairvoyant is very interesting. Clairvoyant means extra sensory perception, to know what you cannot know normally through your senses. And later on we will see that snakes have the extra organ because they can t hear, they have no hearing. So they have heat sensors. They have Jacobson s organs. They have sensors on their tongue. They have many extra sensory perceptive organs. Much more than the other animals. And Talk 7 Materia Medica I 27